Midnight Beauty || #Wattys2016 #OnceUponNow

Two - Petrified

Esmeralda squeezes her eyes shuts and mumbles under her breath for the nightmare to stop.

The deep melody has stop blaring by now, and her hands have calmed down. But she knows what she's going to see when she opens her eyes, and she just hopes that it was what it was- a nightmare. Just a dream and that's it. All in her head.

Esmeralda takes a deep breath after a lot of convincing herself that it wasn't real, and she slowly peels one eye open, then the other, and stares at her ceiling. You can do it, Esmeralda, you can do it. She slowly lowers her head and her eyes land on her hands. She begins to let out a shriek but controls herself in order to not alert the neighbors or anybody around. 

They were just like before; wrinkly and weak. But it was worse. It was now up to her wrists and that was what made her realize that this was going to progressively get worse. Now this is where she freaks out.

"Why is this happening!? Why me? What could I have possibly done in order to get something so horrifying in return!?" Esmeralda stands on her bed and grunts in frustration, staring at what are supposed to be her hands. She jumps off her bed and heads to her bathroom, making sure she isn't turning old anywhere else. Then suddenly she remembers something. 

"Wait...is this happening because I copied off of Penny Lambert's test in Math class the other day? Great. That's most likely why. I'm being punished, aren't I?" She groans and shakes her head, instantly regretting her previous actions.

Before she begins her ritual to be forgiven, her phone rings on her night stand. Picking it up, she sees it says "Buzz" on the screen and she instantly answers the call.

"Hi who is this?"

"Really Esme? I know you know it's me. I can feel you about to burst out laughing in any second."

It's true because Esmeralda starts laughing at her failure of what she likes to call a "prank".

"Hi good friend of mine. You're calling a bit too late aren't you?" 

"Look I didn't mean to. I was just doing some serious par-studying. I was..hittin' those books you know!" A nervous laugh is heard at the other end.

"Yeahhh, right. I called you earlier because I wanted to talk to you about something. Something that Wesley couldn't be serious about, as always."

"Oooh, I sense some serious girl talk coming. Hey, I'll go over instead!"

"Bea it's almost one in the-"

"Almost there!"

The call ends and Esmeralda scoffs. Classic Bea. She realizes that her hands are probably going to scare her friend, so she decides to put on a sweater that'll cover them when she tells Bea the story. Esmeralda looks at herself in the mirror, realizing the fact that she has to hide something like that from her best friend. It was scary knowing that something so terrible was happening to her and she was feeling self-conscious about it. It's something Esmeralda has never liked to admit, but it scared her. The feeling of being judged over one little thing somebody has no control over. That's the main reason why she's always tried her best to not stand out, even though her red hair didn't quite catch the hint. Either way, she knew that this was Bea we're talking about here. She was her best friend, and she knew that Bea would never judge her so quickly like that. One last good look is given before she decides to take off the sweater, revealing her withered hands.

Before her foot lands on the first step, a heavy weight is pressed on her chest. Esmeralda places her hand over heart, confused, and asks herself about the sudden worry and anxiety. Ignoring it, she continues down the steps and feels the weight get heavier and heavier. As she takes the last couple of steps, she notices something out of the corner of her eye. 

"What the-" Startled, she trips back and lands on the floor, stricken with fear as she sees a dark looming figure staring back at her. It was almost like a shadow and made no movement. All it seemed to do was stand there- whatever it was. She wanted to call out to it and ask what it was doing in her house, but she was too petrified to even speak. Instinctively, she thought it was somebody, but it didn't look like a person in any way, shape, or form.

It looked like an animal. A large, threatening, and upset animal.

It was big and without dimension, as in it had no obvious form. It was clear that it was not human or anything of this world, but Esmeralda couldn't make out what it was. The shadow seemed as if it was organizing itself, changing its figure as it remained in one spot, staring back at her with it's golden eyes. It was weird and hypnotizing to look at because they were glossy and the only thing that wasn't moving around. The rest of it's supposed body began to fall into place, or at least that's what Esmeralda was thinking. The figure steadily began to take a shape, yet it was still very distorted and unorganized which gave it a more menacing feeling. 

Esmeralda grabbed every ounce of courage she had and quickly got up, pressing herself against the front door. Her eyes glued on the figure, she prepared herself for anything that was about to happen as she made plans to open the door and run as fast as she could out of her house and away from the menacing shadow-figure. She gradually began to move her arm over to the door knob, and knowing it was unlocked in case her mother came home, she prepared to swing open the door. 

Before she reached the doorknob, a low rumbling noise came from the figure. The terrifying growl echoed throughout her house, threatening her even more. It was creepy, to say the least, and the thunderous rumble intimidated Esmeralda to the point of almost making her shed a tear or two.

With a swift and sudden movement, she twisted the doorknob and yanked the door open. Simultaneously, the dark figure let out one last grumble and lunged at her before she was even able to peek outside. She felt the presence of something right on her when she opened the door, and what felt like arms surrounding her. The feeling of panic overwhelmed her, and she squeezed her eyes shut unsure of what was to happen to her.

But nothing happened.

The sudden feeling of pure doom was gone, and the terrifying growl disappeared. It was as if nothing happened and that as soon as she was grabbed, everything went away. It confused her; the feeling of being petrified and feeling like your soul just quit and left your body one moment and then suddenly feeling free the next.

 Esmeralda took a couple of deep breaths and cautiously opened one eye. She was outside. She was safe. And she was listening to a heartbeat. A person's heartbeat. 

Without making a movement, she glanced around her and investigated. What was holding her were arms- a person's arms to be exact. She was in somebody's arms. But whose?

Esmeralda looked up as much as she could from her position, but couldn't see the person's face. Their heartbeat was thumping rapidly, and their breathing hitched when she began to move her head around. As soon as she moved, it was as if her feelings were switched on. She felt her heart beating just as accelerated as the mystery person, and her breathing was uneven and rushed. The adrenaline had left her body and the aftermath was pure shock, overwhelming her. 

"What just happened..." She murmured.

"I-"

Then without warning, the person's voice fades away and darkness clouds her vision.

*****

Ayee! Second chapter!

I'm feeling pretty good about this book, with it being out of my comfort zone and all.

Please tell me what you think and thank you for reading(: